Pin sorter



M. RATTI PIN SORTER Feb. 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 10,. 1954INVENTOR Marlo Riff! I RNEY Feb. 28, 1956 M. RATTI 2,736,430

PIN SORTER Filed Aug. 10, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Mario Raff;

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ATTORN EIY United States Patent PIN SGRTER Mario Ratti, Te an'epk, N.1., assign'or to Kaine Engineering (30., North Bergen, N. 3., acopartnership Application August 10, 1954, SerialNo. 448,945

Claims. '(Cl. 209-82) The present invention relates generally to sortingor selecting apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for sortingp'inlike articles to separate those which are defective in that they areof the wrong length or wrongly oriented.

My invention has particular reference to "apparatus for sorting leadwires such as those which are used in electron tube devices, although itis useful for sorting other types of pinlike o'r rodlike articles or anylength and cross section and either straight or having crimped, bent orthreaded portions.

Lead wires are used in great quantities in the bases of electron tubesand transistor envelopes for plugging them into-sockets. Typical leadwires are made up from two or more pieces of wire or pinlike portionswhich are welded together to form the finished lead wire. These weldsare made on high-speed lead-wire welding na'chin'es and the completedleadwires emerge from these machines in an almost steady flow.Occasionally a defective weld will be made and the lead wire will emergefrom the welding machine in -pieces. 'I'tis necessary to sort'thesepieces but from the correetly welded lead wires. The present inventionprovides a device which will separate these pieces from the correctlywelded lead Wires "as they emerge from the welding machine.

Typical lead wires also have the pieces forming one end of greaterdiameter and weight than the pieces forming the other end. In packingthe lead wires as they emerge from the welding machine it is desirablethat 'the lead wires have all the ends of one diameter together.lhedeviceof the preseritinvention orients th'e'le'ad wires so that theymay be easily packed with all the ends of a given diameter-together.

An object of my invention is to provide apparatus for separating shortpinlike articles of improper length from longer ones of a correctlength.

Ahot her object of my invention is to provide apparatus for selecting,orienting and packing lead wires.

Another object of my invention is to provide simple, efiicient andinexpensive apparatus to sort lead wires of different lengths.

Another object of my invention is to provide a .pin sorting devicewithout moving parts.

Another object of my invention is to provide a pin sorting device ofsmall size which may be conveniently attached to a lead wire weldingmachine.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fast acting ipin sortingdevice.

Other and further objects of the invention will be-obv-iousupon'an'understanding of the illustrated embodiment about to bedescribed or will be indicated in the appended claims and variousadvantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the artupon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred "embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration 'and description and 2 is shown in the accompanyingdrawings forming part of the specification wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of portions of theinclined tube and the rejection plate of the device of Fig. -1 showinglead wires passing therethrough with their socket portions foremost;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevational view or portions ofthe inclined tube and the rejection plate of the device of Fi 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of 2; Fig. 5 is asectional view taken along the line 5--5 of Pig. 2;

Fig. '6 is a sectional view taken along the line 66 of Fig. 2;

.7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view similar to Fig. 2 exceptthat the lead wires have their mounting portions foremost;

Fig. '8 is a sectional view taken along the line 88 of Fig. 2.;

Fig. '9 'is a front elevational view of a lead wire;

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view showing an improperly spaced tube andplate;

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view showing a properly spaced tubeandjpla'te;

Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic view showing a properly spaced tube and slopedplate;

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a properly spaced tube andsloped plate; and

Fig. -14 is a sectional view taken along the line '14-14 of Fig. 13.

The pin sorting device will be described generally with respect to Fig.1 which shows a preferred embodiment of the invention. The pin sortingdevice 1 is mounted "by suitable mounting struts .3 and 3a on a pinforming machine such as lead wire welding machine 2 which is making thelead Wires '4 .by welding together lthree separate lead wire parts. Thecompleted lead wires 4 fall from the welding machine 2 into funnel 11 atthe 'top at pin sorting device 1. As will be more fully described below,the perfect lead wires 4 pass down tube 12, along ejection plate 15, andthrough tube 21 to container ll). The pieces of the'imperfectly weldedlead wires 4a pass down tube "12 and slide over the edge of plate 15 toa rejection container 13.

.;'A typical lead wire is shown in Fig. 9 in its completed form. "Thiswire has "three sections welded together. These consist of a mountingportion 5, a connection por- (ion 5, and a 'socketpin portion 7. Thesocket pin portien 7 is of greater diameter and weight than'thepor'tions 5 "and "6. The welding machine 2 completes 'lea'd pin 4Iby.rnakingwelds 8 and 9between portions 5, 6 and 7. Occasionally a weldingoperation fails and the lead wire 4 is dropped from the machine 2 ineither two or three pieces. These pieces of the imperfect lead wiresmust be rejected from the perfect lead wires before they "are "lpadedinto automatic electron device manufacturing machines. Tin sorting device1 rejects the imperfect lead wires and it also orients the lead wires sothat they are arranged in container 10 with the socket portions 7 allat't'he bottom of (the container 10.

The pin sorter 1 will now be described in greater detail withpart'icularreference to Figs 1, 2 and 7. Pin sorter 1 has a funnelportion 11 at its upper end. .As the completed lead wires 4 are droppedfrom welding machine 2, they fall into .funnel 11 which guides .the leadwire to tube '12 of the pin sorter. In the preferred embodiment funnel'11 is designed with a sloping surface 14 beneath the mounting portion 5of :the lead pins 4.

the opposite funnel surface 14a.

When lead wire 4 is released by machine 2, mounting portion 5 of thelead wire is located so that it will strike surface 14 of funnel 11before the socket portion 7 strikes Thus the lead wire 4 is tipped intotube 12 with the socket portion 7 foremost as lead wire 4b in Fig. 1.The lead wires will thus all be oriented in the same direction as theyslide down tube 12.

Inclined tube 12 carries the lead wires 4 downward towards a rejectionplate 15. In the preferred embodiment tube 12 is curved to carry thelead wires 4 around the welding machinery 2 to a suitable location forrejector plate 15. The curvature of the inclined tube 12 may be variedor tube 12 may be a straight tube set-up in a vertical or an inclinedposition.

The lower end of tube 12 has a crimped portion 16 at its lower end asseen in Figs. 2 and 4. This portion 16 of tube 12 is bent or otherwiseshaped to have an oval or rounded rectangular shape (Fig. 4). Thiscrimped section 16 of tube 12 performs an important part in therejection process, as will be described below in connection with anexplanation of the shape and spacing of the tube 12 and ejector plate15.

Ejector plate is located a short distance below the lower end of tube12. plate 15 is preferably a substantially flat area 17. The lower edgeof area 17 has a curved lip 18 which is shaped concavely upward in agradual curve (Figs. 5 and 6). The height of lip 18 increases graduallytowards the right-hand side of plate 15 until it meets a similarlycurved lip 18a which curves inward in the opposite sense from the top ofplate 15. Lips 18 and 18a meet to form funnel portion 20. This funnelportion 20 leads into a curved hollow tube 21.

The shaping and spacing of tube portion 16, plate 15,

and lip 18 will be more fully described below.

As a normal lead wire 4 reaches the bottom of tube 12, it is guidedfirst by the relative positions of tube 12 and plate 15 to the positionof lead wire 4c (Fig. 2). The pin next slides completely out of tube 12into the position of lead wire 4d approximately parallel to the lip 18and moving in a direction parallel to lip 18. Lead wire 4 slides againstlip 18 and is guided progressively by lip 18, funneled portion 20 andtube 21 to the container 10.

The short portions 4a of the incompletely welded pins which must berejected similarly fall through tube 12. As will be more fully discussedwhen the shape and spacing of the tube and ejector plate are discussed,the shorter pieces pass readily through the lower end of tube 12 withoutany turning or slowing action and slip over the edge of lip 18. Arejector guide 24 (Fig. 1) is suitably shaped to direct portions 4a to arejection container 13.

As was discussed above, the funnel 11 is used in the preferredembodiment to direct the lead wires down tube 12 with their socketportion 7 lowermost. Other means than the funnel may be used such as anair stream directed at the one end to turn the lead wire in the desireddirection.

Occasionally a lead wire will fall or bounce into tube 12 with themounting portion 5 lowermost.

It is desirable to reject these lead wires, since all the lead wires incontainer 10 must be oriented in the same direction before the leadwires are loaded into an automatic tube manufacturing machine.

The rejection of these wrongly oriented lead wires 4 will be describedwith particular reference to Fig. 7. The wrongly oriented lead wire 4will pass downwardly through tube 12 until it reaches the position oflead wire 4c. The lead wire will now be slowed and turned in a mannersimilar to that of the lead wire 40 discussed above to the position oflead wire 4 The lead wire 4 is now positioned similarly to correctlyoriented wire 4d of Fig. 2 in a position approximately parallel to lip18.

The left-hand end (Fig. 2) of wire 4d, the momentum of the heaviersocket portion 7 of lead wire 4 tends to continue the turning actiongiven lead wire 4]- as it turned from the position of lead wire 4e. Thisturning causes socket portion 7 to jump over the lip 18 and to carry thelead wire to the position of lead wire 4g. From this position the leadwire falls against rejection guide 24 and is directed to the rejectioncontainer 13.

The shape and spacing of the crimped portion 16 of tube 12 and ofrejection plate 15 which slow and turn the lead wires 4 will now bedescribed with particular reference to Figs. 10 through 14. The end oftube 12 and rejection plate 15 are so shaped and spaced that the leadwire 4 falling lengthwise through tube 12 is slowed by striking plate 15and is turned on emergence from portion 16 of tube 12 so that it slidesout onto plate 15 in the general position of lead wires 4d and 4] ofFigs. 2 and 7. As previously stated, a lead wire that has its heaviersocket end 7 foremost will then be guided by lip 18 whereas a lead wirehaving its end 7 hindermost will be flipped over the lip 18 by themomentum of the heavier end 7.

The tube 12 and plate 15 are also spaced so that any combination of oneor two of the pieces 5, 6 or 7 of an imperfectly welded pin will not beslowed or turned but will drop to plate 15 at a relatively high speedand will thus pass over the lower left-hand edge (Fig. 2) of lip 18.

The shape and spacing of tube 12 and plate 15 will now be more fullydescribed. When a hollow tube is located above a relatively flat platesuch as tube 25 and plate 26 of Fig. 10, the tube may be spaced closeenough as shown so that a wire 27 dropping down tube 25 will not be ableto slide out onto plate 26. Shorter piece 41 will fall freely to plate26. If the tube is now arranged to meet the plate at an angle such astube 28 and plate 29 of Fig. 11, the wire 27 will slide out of side 30at the right-hand side. By inclining the plate as well as the tube theend of the wire 27 first striking the plate may be directed toward side30 to insure that pin 27 emerges out of the tube onto plate 29. Thus asin Fig. 12 the wire 27 may be caused to slide out in the position ofwire 31. Tube 12 may have a square or round cross section, but by makingthe cross section of the tube generally rectangular the direction of theemerging wire 31 may be more closely controlled and the wire may becaused to slide onto plate 29 in a direction parallel to the longer sideof the rectangle.

Fig. 13 shows a tube 34 and a plate 35 arranged gen- .erally similar totube 28 and plate 29 of Fig. 12,.except that plate 35 has both edges 36and 37 sloped from the horizontal so that a corner is the lowest portionof plate 35. The longer side of the rectangular tube 34 is arranged asshown in Fig. 13.

The longer pins will now be directed to a position similar to pin 38 andwill be carried to the position of pin 39 by their momentum and theslope of plate 35. Since lead wires do not pass out of the rearwardedges 32 and 33 (Fig. 14) of tube 34, these edges may be extended toplate 15 in an alternate embodiment.

Shorter lengths of pins will fall freely to the plate 35 and, not beinglong enough to be held by the tube edges, will pass out in the positionof pin 41 due to the slope of plate 35. Shorter pins 41 are thus notsubjected to the turning that the longer pin 38 is and thus emerge fromthe tube 34 with a higher speed and different direction, allowing theabove described rejection process to occur.

The shaping and spacing of the tube 12 and the rejection plate 15 followthese general principles. Thus the longer side of the crimped portion 16of tube 12 is made generally parallel to lip 18. The crimped portion hasa generally rounded rectangular shape and the plate 15 is sloped fromthe horizontal to place the right-hand end of lip 18 (Fig. 2) lower thanthe rest of plate 15. The tube 12 is spaced far enough from plate-15 toallow lead Wires 4 to slide out only in a direction generally parallelto lip 18 but to wi'aaeso allow shorter sections such as 4a to slidereadily out.

The following proportions have proven satisfactory for a pin sorterhaving the general shape shown in Figs. 1 through 6 for sorting leadwires such as shown in Fig. 9 with a length of about seven-eighths of aninch. Portion 7 of lead wire 4 has a length of about a quarter of aninch and a diameter of one thirty-second of an inch and portions 5 and 6have diameters of about a thirty-second of an inch and lengths offive-eighths' and one-eighth of an inch, respectively.

Crimped portion 16 of tube 12 has a wall thickness of about athirty-second of an inch and the long edge of the rounded rectangle isapproximately seven-sixteenths of an inch while the shorter side isabout three-'sixteenths of an inch. Angle A (Fig. 5) between tube 12 andplate 'is approximately thirty degrees and tube 12 is located about asixteenth of an inch above plate 15 and about one-quarter of an inchfrom lip 18 at their nearest points.

The fiat portion of rejection plate 15 may be defined by the twointersecting section lines '66 and 8"8. Line 6 6 has an angle B ofapproximately fifty degrees with the horizontal and line 8-8 has anangle C of about twenty degrees with the horizontal.

Lip 18 rises from a point level with the flat portion 17 of plate 15 atits left-hand edge (Fig. 2) to a'height of about a sixteenth of an inchat section line 55 and to a height of about an eighth of an inch atsection line 6--6.

The tube 12 above the crimped portion 16 may have any convenient sizeand incline to bring the lead 'wir'es into the crimped portion. Thefunnel 11 may be omitted if desired where the pins are oriented in adifferent manner, as discussed above.

The shape of funnel portion and tube '21 may be varied to suit thelocation of container 10 and the direction in which it is desired toslide the lead wires.

The particular shapes and sizes of the various parts for a preferredembodiment used with lead wires of approximately seven-eighths of aninch in length have been discussed above. These relative shapes andspacings are interdependent and thus satisfactory operation may beobtained with a diiferent ejection plate sloping, for example, if theshape of lip 18 is changed to-c'ompensate for it. For different sizesand weights of pins, the shape and spacing may be varied in accordancewith the above general discussion of the shaping and spacing to suit theparticular case. Thus for longer pins thetube size and its spacing fromthe ejection plate is increased and the slope of ejector plate isadjusted so that lip 18 retains pins of the desired length. I

The device may be used to sort any type of pinlike article Where onesshorter than a given length are to be rejected. A series of the devicesthus may-be used-one after another to segregate a group of mixed length.pins into groups in accordance with theirlength. The device also may beused to orient any pinlike articles whichhave their center of gravity ata distance from their midpoint.

The device is simple and rugged and requires little attention, since ithas no moving parts. Once it has been adjusted it will operate for anindefinite period with little or no attention or maintenance. The deviceis also small in size and may be fitted easily to existing machinery.

nection with a machine which is manufacturing a'pinlike An example ofsuch a machine is a lead wire article. welding machine which is weldingthree sections 'ofwire together to form a pinlike lead wire. Theselead'wires, which have been described more completely above inconnection with Fig. 9, are completed at a rate of several hundred leadwires per minute.

As the lead wires are dropped from thewelding 'machine at this rate, itis the function of the pin softerto sort the lead wires to reject thosewhich are defectively welded and which thus are dropped from themachinein 6 the pins have their opposite ends dissimilar to arrange thepins in 'a container with all "similar ends together. Thus, as seen inFig. 1, the .-pin sorter arranges the lead wires 4 having a heavy endand :a light *end :so that the heavy end is downward in container 10.

The operation of the pin sorter will first be described with relation'to a correctly welded lead wire. As the lead wire 4 fa-lls from thewelding machine 2, the lighter end 5 of lead wire 4 first strikes thesloping surface of funnel 11. This causes pin '4 to be tipped intoinclined tube 12 with its heavy end 7 "foremost. Pin 4 now slides downincline'd tube 12 unt-il it strikes ejection plate 15. The slope ofplate 15 now carries the heavy end 7 of pin 4 towards the right handside '(Fig. 2) "of the crimped portion 16 of tube 12, causing pin '4 toslide out from tube 12 onto plate 15 in a direction generally .parallelto the longer side of the crimped portion 16 of tube 12 and alsogenerally parallel to-li'p 18 on ejection plate '15. The downward slopeof ejection plate '15 and lip 18 combine to carry pin 4 toward tunnelportion 20. Pin 4 slides downwardly through funnel 20 and tube 21 tocontainer '10 where it is held in *a generally erect position by:sp'ac'ers 10a.

When the welding of *the sections of the grid wire is defective, theseparate sections will fall separately from the welding machine 'intofunnel 11 or the lead wire will :-break 'into separate sections when itstrikes funnel 11. These separate sections will each slide down tube 12until they strike the 'ejection plate 15. After striking theejectionplate, "these sections will slide downwardly under the longerside "of crimped portion '16 next to lip 18 -'rhoving apathgenerally'atright angles to-lip 18. These sections pass freely out of the tube 12onto plate 15 due to their short length. They thus retain their velocity:g'ained in inclined tube '12 "so that when they reach lip 18 they slideover its edge and are guided by rejector guide 24 to 'a'container 13.

Other means thanthe funnel 11 may be used to direct pins *4 down tube112 with -a given end foremost. Thus 'a jet of air may be placed tostrike one end and to thus turn itdownward into tube 12. No matter whatmethod is *used for this purpose occasionally a pin may fall or bounceinto tube 12 with the wrong end foremost. sorter 1 is designed so thatit will reject pins passing through it with their lighter ends foremost.'Thus lead wires 4 which pass down tube 12 with section 5 fore-EIhOSPaIC rejected along with the incorrectly welded sections.

ljhepin sorter operates the following way with respect to these wronglyoriented .pins. A lead wire 4 passing down tube 12 with its section '5foremost will strike ejectionplate .15 and, as described above, for thecorrectly oriented .pin willslide out of the corner of crimped portion16 adjacent the lowest portion of ejection plate 15. As the pin emergeson plate 15, it will have been turned so that it .is generally at rightangles to its position as it "entered crifnped portion :16 and it alsowill be ssliding toward lip 18. As the pin slides toward lip 18, themomentum of the heavier end 7 will continue the turning'oflpin4 so 'thatend 7 slides over the edge of lip 18 and carries Ipin 4 against rejectorguide 24 into container 18.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all inat-ter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described niy invention, I claim;

1. A pin sorting device {comprising an inclined hollow -t-ube, '-'areject ion plate-having an upwardly curving portion along oneedgearidbeing located beneath and spaced fr'om the lower end of s'ai'cl'ttibe'and'said curving portion having its upper edge-spacedhorizontally from the lower pieces. It is also the function of the pinsorter wliere end of said tube "whereby p'ins -'tlropp'ed into the upperPin 7 end of said tube slide downwardly onto said plate and whereby pinsof a given length are retained by said curving portion and pins shorterthan said given length pass over the edge of said curving portion.

2. A pin sorting device comprising a hollow tube in clined from thehorizontal, a rejection plate inclined from the horizontal having acurved edge portion and located beneath and spaced from the lower end ofsaid tube and said curved edge portion sloping downwardly and having itsupper end spaced horizontally from and lower than said tubes lower endwhereby pins dropped into the upper end of said tube slide downwardlyonto said plate and whereby pins of a given length are retained by saidcurved edge portion and pins shorter than said given length pass overthe edge of said curved edge portion.

3. A pin sorting device comprising a hollow tube inclined from thehorizontal having an inside diameter smaller than the length of the pinsto be sorted and a generally rectangular cross section at its lower end,a rejection plate inclined from the horizontal and located beneath andspaced from the lower end of said tube and having a curved edge portionand said curved edge portion sloping downwardly and having its upper endspaced horizontally from and lower than said tubes lower end wherebypins dropped into the upper end of said tube slide downwardly onto saidplate and whereby pins of a given length sliding onto said plate withtheir heavier ends foremost are retained by said curved edge portion andpins of a given length sliding onto said plate with their lighter endforemost or pins shorter than said given length pass over said curvededge portion.

4. A sorting devicefor elongated articles comprising a guideway having amaximum effective width less than the normal length of the articles tobe sorted, said guideway extending from one level to a lower level sothat the articles may travel along it by gravity, and a plate below thelower end of said guideway, said plate being spaced from one portion ofthe guideway a distance sufiicient to permit defective short lengths ofarticles to pass between the guideway and the plate and to prevent thepassage of normal lengths of articles between the plate and the guidewayat that point, said plate being spaced from the guideway at anotherpoint a distance sufiicient to permit passage of normal lengths of thearticles and in this way separating the short and normal lengths ofarticles.

5. A sorting device for elongated articles comprising a guideway havinga maximum effective width less than the normal length of the articles tobe sorted, said guideway extending from one level to a lower level sothat the articles may travel along it by gravity, and a plate below thelower end of said guideway with a curved lip portion, said platebeing'spaced from one portion of the guideway a distance suificient topermit defective short lengths of articles to pass between the guidewayand the plate in a direction toward said curved lip portion and toprevent the passage of normal lengths of articles between the plate andthe guideway at that point, said plate being spaced from a secondportion of the guideway a distance sulficient to permit passage ofnormal lengths of the articles in a direction parallel to said curvedlip portion and in this way separating the short and normal lengths ofarticles.

6. A pin sorting device comprising a hollow tube inclined from thehorizontal, a rejection plate located beneath and spaced from said tubehaving a flat portion and a curved lip portion, said fiat portionlocated below the lower end of said tube and being slop-ed from thehorizontal, said curved lip portion being adjacent the lowermost edge of'said fiat Portion, said tube having its lowermost portion adjacent saidflat portion inclined with respect to said flat portion and spacedtherefrom whereby pins of a given length passing downward through saidtube are slowed and guided by said curved lip portion and whereby pinsof shorter lengths than said given length are not slowed but pass overthe edge of said curved lip portion.

7. A pin sorting device comprising a hollow tube inclined from thehorizontal, a rejection plate located be neath and spaced from the lowerend of said tube having a flat portion and a curved lip portion, saidflat portion being located beneath the lower end or" said tube and beingsloped from the horizontal, said curved lip portion being adjacent thelowermost edge of said flat portion, said tube having its lowermostportion inclined with respect to said tube having its lowermost portioninclined with respect to said flat portion and having a generallyrectangular cross section at its lower end and being spaced from saidflat portion whereby pins passing downward through said tube with'theirheavy end foremost are turned and guided along said ejection plate bysaid curved lip portion and whereby pins passing downward through saidtube with their lighter ends foremost are turned and jump over the edgeof said curved lip portion.

8. A pin sorting device comprising a funnel, an inclined hollow tubewith its upper end attached to the narrow end of said funnel, arejection plate located beneath and spaced from the lower end of saidtube having a generally fiat portion and a curved lip portion, said flatportion being located beneath the lower end of said tube and beingsloped from the horizontal having one edge lower than all others andsloped downwardly, said curved lip portion being adjacent said loweredge of said flat portion and having its lower portion higher than itsupper portion, said tube having its lowermost portion inclined withrespect to said flat portion and having an elongated cross section, andhaving two adjacent lower edges generally parallel to and spaced fromsaid flat portion whereby pins of a given length passing downwardlythrough said tube are slowed and turned generally parallel to saidcurved lip portion as they pass to said rejection plate and whereby pinsshorter than said given length pass freely to said rejection platewithout being turned parallel to said curved lip portion so that theyslide over the edge thereof.

9. A pin sorting device for use with a lead wire welding machine, whichmachine releases welded lead wires so that they fall downwardlytherefrom comprising a funnel located below the point of release of saidwires so that one end of said wires strikes a sloping funnel surfacebefore the other end of said wires, a hollow inclined tube attached tothe smaller end of said funnel whereby the wires slide from said funnelinto said tube with said other end of the wires foremost, a rejectionplate located beneath and spaced from the lower end of said tube havinga generally flat portion and a curved lip portion, said flat portionbeing located beneath the lower end of said tube and being sloped fromthe horizontal having one edge lower than all other edges and slopeddownwardly, said curved lip portion being adjacent said lower edge ofsaid flat portion and having the height of its lip increasing towardsits lower end, said tube having its lowermost portion generally straightand inclined with respect to said flat portion and having an elongatedcross section and having two adjacent lower edges generally parallel toand spaced from said fiat portion whereby wires of a given lengthpassing downwardly through said tube are slowed and turned generallyparallel to said curved lip portion as they pass to said rejection plateand whereby wires shorter than 'said given length pass freely to saidrejection plate without being turned parallel to said curved lip portionso that they slide over the edge thereof.

10. A pin sorting device for use with a lead wire Welding machine whichwelds lead wires having one end heavier than the other and whichreleases the welded wires so that they fall downwardly therefromcomprising a hollow inclined tube located below the point of releasewhereby the wires drop into said tube and slide downwardly therethrough, a rejection plate located beneath and spaced from the lower endof said tube having a fiat portion and a curved lip portion, said fiatportion being located beneath 9 the end of said tube and being slopedfrom the horizontal having one edge lower than all other edges andslope-d downwardly, said curved lip portion being formed on said loweredge, said tube having its lowermost portion inclined with respect tosaid fiat portion and having an elongated cross section, one longerlower edge of said tube being spaced from said fiat portion and parallelto said lip portion whereby wires having a length shorter than normalpass between the edge and the rejection plate and wires of normal lengthare prevented from passing under 10 the edge, an adjacent shorter, loweredge of said tube being spaced from said flat portion whereby wires of anormal length pass under said shorter edge and are turned thereby sothat they move in a direction parallel to said curved lip portion andwhereby said turning causes wires having their heavy end hindermost toslide over said curved portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,138,245 Parsons May 4, 1915 2,334,004 Herzog Nov. 9, 1943 2,418,355Kirsch et a1. Apr. 1, 1947 2,501,403 McKinsey Mar. 21, 1950 2,549,319Kremer et a1. Apr. 17, 1951

